After a scoreless first leg that was defined by Luis Suarez not playing very well, the Uruguayan enjoyed a vital role in Barcelona’s 5-1 second-leg victory over Lyon at the Camp Nou on Wednesday. However, the man of the match was Lionel Messi, who scored two goals and added two assists to ease his side into the Champions League quarterfinals.
One half of the 2019 CONCACAF Champions League semifinal bracket is filled, and it’s an all Liga MX affair pitting Tigres against Santos Laguna. Tigres took care of the Houston Dynamo 3-0 on aggregate despite the absence of injured star Andre-Pierre Gignac. Santos defeated the New York Red Bulls 6-2 on aggregate, but not without receiving something of a scare at Estadio Corona on Tuesday night.
How about this from the hometown hero? Gearóid Morrissey, a 27-year-old midfielder from Cork, Ireland, ripped this outrageous stunner for Cork City during the club’s 4-3 victory over Finn Harps on Friday.
With Harps leading 2-1 just before the halftime whistle, Morrissey swiveled to control a loose ball at the top of the box, juggled it across his body to take a defender out of the equation and then laced a dipping half volley from 18 yards out to equalize for Cork.
Three perfect touches — all with the right foot — for one of the more outrageous goals of 2019.
Tuesday, Frank Lampard’s Derby County recorded a massive 2-1 victory over Wigan Athletic to keep the club in the thick of the English Championship promotion playoff race. Trailing 1-0 with over an hour gone, 22-year-old winger Mason Bennett equalized with a gobsmacking, left-footed overhead flick from about 12 yards out.
Lampard called it as good as Gareth Bale’s goal in last season’s Champions League final, and it’s an almost certain nominee for the 2019 FIFA Puskás Award (although the winner will ultimately be a tap-in from Mohamed Salah).
We here at The18 are as excited about the final season of Game of Thrones as anyone. But forget about that trailer HBO put out on Tuesday for a moment and watch this David Neres goal vs Real Madrid.
Ajax lost the first leg of the Champions League Round of 16 tie with Real Madrid despite looking the better side for much of the game.
After going scoreless in 10 matches with Nice to begin the 2018-19 season, Mario Balotelli now has four goals in six games since joining Marseille over the January transfer window.
The 28-year-old Italian’s latest strike was an incredible effort against St-Etienne today, and he celebrated in true Balotelli fashion — it’s bound to piss a lot of people off.
Monterrey kept pace with Tigres at the top of the Liga MX Clausura table with a 2-0 victory over Guadalajara at Akron Stadium on Saturday, and both Rayados goals were of the highest order.
Also, they were both scored by Colombian attacker Dorlan Pabón, who ripped a long-range golazo in the second minute and then did it again in the 89th.
Here’s the first.
Here’s the second. Déjà vu.
Mesut Özil scored his fourth goal of the Premier League season in Arsenal’s fairly simple 5-1 win over Bournemouth on Wednesday.
Özil’s strike opened the scoring in the fourth minute, having been played in by Sead Kolasinac. The German had only the keeper to beat, and he did so with relative ease. But his shot was anything but usual.
Sometimes you have to wonder about the hype surrounding the English Premier League. You’re supposed to treat Manchester United-Liverpool like a druid at the summer solstice, but it turns out to be 90 minutes of apocalyptic despair.
You then put on Newcastle United-Burnley and see Atlanta United’s Miguel Almiron bossing things, $66 million Liverpool target James Tarkowski sky a sitter from yards out and commentators treat the introduction of a 38-year-old Peter Crouch like the second coming of Marco van Basten.
Last time we checked in with Diego Maradona and Dorados, it was to report on the Argentine legend’s antics during his side’s Ascenso MX Apertura final defeat. After the heartbreak of that 4-3 aggregate defeat, Maradona has since returned to lead Dorados during the Clausura season.
While the club has achieved success in the Copa MX — they’ll play Liga MX side Atlas on Tuesday in the Round of 16 — the regular season has been something of a disaster for the club. After six matches, Dorados has only managed one win.